Work or no money for six months, young Tasmanians told

Jobless youth queue up at Centrelink. Tough new rules around job allowances were announced tonight.Source: News Limited

THOUSANDS of young Tasmanians will be forced to find a job or face six months without welfare payments under a tough new allowance regime announced in tonight’s Federal Budget.

An estimated 21,000 Tasmanians on the Newstart allowance will have their payments capped for the next three years in a Budget aimed getting Tasmanian back into the workforce or into higher education.

About 4000 Tasmanian on Youth Allowance will also have their benefits capped.

“The age of entitlement is over,” Mr Hockey said in his Budget Speech tonight.

Tonight’s Budget has outlined a tougher new regime for Tasmanians wanting to access Newstart and Youth Allowance.

From the start of next year new jobseekers up to 30 years of age, applying for Newstart or Youth Allowance (Other), will need to participate in job search and employment services activities for up to six months before receiving the payment.

Comments on this story

michael jones of western australia Posted at 11:36 AM June 03, 2014

Good old liberals up their old tricks, punishing the poor while the rich enjoy lowered taxes and no questions asked about their tax minimization projects.
Oh and those mining companies are taking all that money offshore for digging up resources that belong to ALL OF US but oh no they can't be taxed, because that would be "wrong"

Lara de Vries of Blackmans Bay Posted at 2:57 AM May 19, 2014

Neil Vernon, if your company goes bust, or needs to cut costs, anyone can easily find themselves without work, educational attainment and employment status are not mutually exclusive.
It is immoral to attack those without work after we have suffered the worst global financial crisis since the great depression. Newstart is not sufficient to be classed as a true safety net now, it does not pay for basic services and already creates a level of demoralising dependency on underfunded services.
Jason Glover, your language is misleading. Newstart is not a "gravy train" (see above), under age 30 by any international measure does not equate to "kids". Childhood legally stops at 16, 18, 21 depending on context. People who find themselves unemployed have often contributed as taxpayers, or in the community in general.
Since when, is paid employment the only measure of a person's worth?
Terms such as "burden" and "us taxpayers" potentially create a dangerous divide in our community.

Lara de Vries of Blackmans Bay Posted at 2:01 AM May 19, 2014

Shadforth Jones, the term "dole bludgers" is derogatory, unhelpful and not a fair reflection of most people that collect welfare. 25/30 years ago jobs were far more plentiful and the average time spent on the unemployment benefit was 12 weeks. Currently, the average is two years. The Disability Support Pension is currently very difficult for the genuinely sick and people with disabilities to access. The rules are strict and the applications must be signed off by qualified medical professionals. All this requires time and money for the applicant to apply for. With the proposed changes expect people to use hospital doctors for this process, and for the cost to blow out. As for people "scamming" the system, this is basically rendered impossible by modern technology. Far more likely to see fraud occur in workplaces by employees, as recent reported cases in The Mercury newspaper have highlighted.